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Uzbekistan is a country of Central Asia, located north of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. With an area of 447,000 square kilometers (approximately the size of Spain or California), Uzbekistan stretches 1,425 km (885 mi) from west to east and 930 km (580 mi) from north to south. It borders Turkmenistan to the southwest, Kazakhstan to the north, and Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to the south and east.
Uzbekistan is not only one of the larger Central Asian states but also the only Central Asian state to border all of the other four. Uzbekistan also shares a short border with Afghanistan to the south. As the Caspian Sea is an inland sea with no direct link to the oceans, Uzbekistan is one of only two "doubly landlocked" countries—countries completely surrounded by other landlocked countries. The other is Liechtenstein.
Uzbekistan's climate is classified as continental, with hot summers and cool winters.Summer temperatures often surpass 40 °C (104 °F); winter temperatures average about −2 °C (28 °F),[citation needed] but may fall as low as −40 °C (−40 °F).Most of the country also is quite arid, with average annual rainfall amounting to between 100 and 200 millimeters (3.9 and 7.9 in) and occurring mostly in winter and spring. Between July and September, little precipitation falls, essentially stopping the growth of vegetation during that period of time.
Despite Uzbekistan's rich and varied natural environment, decades of environmental neglect in the Soviet Union have combined with skewed economic policies in the Soviet south to make Uzbekistan one of the gravest of the CIS's many environmental crises. The heavy use of agrochemicals, diversion of huge amounts of irrigation water from the two rivers that feed the region, and the chronic lack of water treatment plants are among the factors that have caused health and environmental problems on an enormous scale.
Environmental devastation in Uzbekistan is best exemplified by the catastrophe of the Aral Sea. Because of diversion of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya for cotton cultivation and other purposes, what once was the world's fourth largest inland sea has shrunk in the past thirty years to only about one-third of its 1960 volume and less than half its 1960 geographical size. The desiccation and salinization of the lake have caused extensive storms of salt and dust from the sea's dried bottom, wreaking havoc on the region's agriculture and ecosystems and on the population's health. Desertification has led to the large-scale loss of plant and animal life, loss of arable land, changed climatic conditions, depleted yields on the cultivated land that remains, and destruction of historical and cultural monuments. Every year, many tons of salts reportedly are carried as far as 800 kilometers away. Regional experts assert that salt and dust storms from the Aral Sea have raised the level of particulate matter in the Earth's atmosphere by more than 5%, seriously affecting global climate change.
The Aral Sea disaster is only the most visible indicator of environmental decay, however. The Soviet approach to environmental management brought decades of poor water management and lack of water or sewage treatment facilities; inordinately heavy use of pesticides, herbicides, defoliants, and fertilizers in the fields; and construction of industrial enterprises without regard to human or environmental impact.Those policies present enormous environmental challenges throughout Uzbekistan.
VOCABULARY
Environment – atrof-muhit
Impact – ta’sir
Fertilizer- ug’it
Industrial Enterprises- sanoat korxonalari
Historical and cultural monuments- tarixiy va madaniy yodgorliklar
Economic policy- iqtisodiy siyosat
Population's health- aholi salomatligi
Rainfall- yog’ingarchilik
Desertification- sahroga aylanish, cho’lga aylanish
Questions
1. What do you think about current reforms in our country?
2.Are there typical features in the environment of Uzbekistan?
3. How many citizens are there in Uzbekistan?
4.What do you think about the heavy industry of Uzbekistan?
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